Emma Stone opens up on starting therapy at the age of 8 as she reflects on her childhood anxiety

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Emma Stone opened up about her early struggles with anxiety and how she was able to turn it into a source of strength.

In a recent interview with National Public Radio (NPR), the 35-year-old actress revealed that she started therapy at the tender age of eight due to severe anxiety.

Emma Stone says anxiety made it challenging for her to 'leave the house to go to school'

The 'Poor Things' actress spoke to the outlet on Wednesday, January 31, about how challenging it was for her to deal with anxiety at a young age.

"I started in therapy, I think around age eight, because it was getting really hard for me to leave the house to go to school. I sort of lived in fear of these panic attacks," she said.

Stone further shared that she had her first panic attack at the age of seven and attributed her anxiety to the fear of separation from her mother. 

"It's a hard age to be able to reason with yourself, at seven or eight, and tell yourself these things aren't true. ... It was very hard to convince myself otherwise," she explained.

Emma Stone says she sees anxiety as 'kind of a superpower'

The 'La La Land' actress noted that the trajectory of her relationship with anxiety changed when she stepped into acting at the age of 11.

The craft became a sanctuary for her, allowing her to focus on the present moment without worrying about past fears or future endeavors.

Stone shared that as an actor, "all of my big feelings are productive, and presence is required."

In a refreshing perspective on anxiety, Stone thinks it can be less challenging if people can channel their energy for positive outcomes.

"I've told a lot of younger people that struggle with anxiety, that in many ways I see it as kind of a superpower,” she said.

"Just because we might have a funny thing going on in our amygdala, and our fight-or-flight response is maybe a little bit out of whack in comparison to many people's brain chemistry, it doesn't make it wrong. It doesn't make it bad," she added.

"It just means we have these tools to manage,” she shared.

"And if you can use it for productive things, if you can use all of those feelings in those synapses that are firing for something creative, or something that you're passionate about, or something interesting," she further stated.

"Anxiety is like rocket fuel because you can't help but get out of bed and do things, do things, do things because you've got all of this energy within you. And that's really a gift," Stone continued.